Summary- "It was a kiss of need, of want and of silent comfort. Finally she broke away and hugged his torso. Her breathing was heavy and shaky. He held her tightly, keeping her close to him." Arthur forgets his die at the warehouse and has to go back for it. When he returns, he finds Ariadne on the floor, bleeding and crying. What she reveals to him brings them closer together than anything else had before. Rated T for kissing and implied sexual situations.
Disclaimer- I do not own Inception!
A/N- This is what happens when I spend too much time watching clips from Mysterious Skin. This was based a little off of that, and also a little off the song, "Brick by Boring Brick," by Paramour which I also do not own. I think that the characters will probably be a little OOC at times, but that's kind of intentional because of the situation. And sometimes not intentional, which I am sorry for. Hope you enjoy!
It had been a long day at work, and Arthur let himself into his apartment now with a sense of relief. He had never been more grateful for peace from the job since now. He had spent all day with the research notes, and the amount he had gone through still made his head spin. He got himself a cup of water from the fridge and sat down on the couch. He sighed, and reached into his pocket for his die, wanting to roll it as he always did before he could enjoy himself. He was dismayed to find that there was nothing in his pocket.
"Damnit,' he muttered to himself. Without his totem, he wouldn't be able to sleep, let alone even relax. He reasoned with himself. He could go back and get it tomorrow, no need to rush out tonight. But he knew that was foolish because he would go crazy without the totem safely in his hands. There would be nothing else to do until he got that die back. Sighing, he got up and put on the jacket that he had already taken off, and he walked quietly out of the building. He hailed a taxi and told it to take it to him to the warehouse, anxious to get there before something happened to it. He could picture it so perfectly on his desk. How could he have forgotten it? He never went anywhere without it, what could have possibly distracted him from it? He ran through his thoughts upon leaving. All he could remember thinking was how much he had wanted to get home, how he had been tired and then…he remembered glancing over at Ariadne, like he did so often. She had been looking at him. He had seen her blush, and he had smiled to himself as she looked away. He left to go say goodnight…and had forgotten to grab the die. She had distracted him. She was the reason.
He shook his head and smiled again as he got back out into the pouring rain. It wasn't like him to get so distracted by women, but Ariadne had always had that effect on him. Since day one, he had always been less focused around her. He opened the door with his key and climbed the stairs to the top of the building. The room was just how it had been when he had left, nothing changed. The lights were off, but even with that he could tell that nothing else had been moved. Ariadne was gone now, and he saw that she had worked on her model a little more before leaving. He flipped on the light and walked to his desk. Sitting there, just so, was his little red die. He picked it up, threw it down, and once he was satisfied, he put it back in his pocket, turning to leave.
He heard a small whimper. He turned around. Nothing was immediately visible at first. He heard a sharp gasp, and a slight cry. Worried now, he walked around his desk and started to look for anything that was wrong. It didn't take him long to find Ariadne. She was curled up on the floor, shaking intensely and moaning. He ran to her, and placed his hands so that he could roll her over to face him. Her face was red, and her cheeks were wet. There were scratches on her arm and a trickle of blood coming out of one of them. His eyes widened at the sight of her. She seemed scared and shaken. He touched her cheek, and it was cold. He ran a finger over the scratches and found that the cut where the blood had been coming from was deep. She had been lying there for long enough that the blood furthest down her arm had dried, but the gash was still flowing. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it aside, standing up. He knew that there was a towel close by, they had just used one the other day when Eames had spilled some coffee. He spied it and grabbed it off of the table that held the PASIV machine, which lie open, something he had failed to notice in his rush to get the totem.
He ran back to her and wiped away the blood that was on her arm. There were several smaller scratches besides that, but nothing major. She was still shaking, and when he put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, she pushed it away and backed up. He looked at her with sympathy, wishing he could do something. He reached his hand out, hoping she might take it. Instead, she bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut, releasing another cry. Arthur withdrew his hand and placed it on his knee. Throughout the whole thing, neither of them had spoken a word. He decided to try that.
"Ariadne, I need to know what's wrong. What happened, can you talk to me?" he asked. He heard the panic in his voice, but doubted that it mattered much right now. She didn't answer him, but looked at him. The fear in her eyes broke his heart.
"What do you need? Can you hear me?" he asked her. She nodded slowly, and finally she moved forward a little bit. The tips of her hair were wet from lying in her tears. Her white shirt had dirt on it, and her bare arm had a fresh trickle of blood running down it. He wanted so badly to pull her to him and wrap his arms around her, covering her in his warmth. But something was deeply wrong, and he needed to be careful with her.
"I…I'm sorry…" she muttered. He took a shaky breath when she finally spoke. He tried again, lifting his hand. She shied away from it a little, but eventually took it. He used it to guide her towards him. He lifted his other hand to stroke her cheek. She closed her eyes and flinched as he touched her flesh, but relaxed when he moved his fingers gently in a brushing movement. He cupped her cheek, and used his thumb to wipe away the tears.
"What happened?" he asked softly, trying not to be intimidating. The anxiety he felt made him want to be loud and hasty, but he knew better. Right now, she needed soft and slow. She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back. She didn't speak, but opened her mouth and closed it a few times. He put his hand behind her back to try to help her closer towards him but she immediately drew away.
"Arthur, please don't," she begged. He nodded. She grabbed his hand again though, and started to speak.
"I was…I hooked up to the PASIV," she began. He nodded. She continued again.
"And I was dreaming…like usual. And then…this man comes…" she stopped here, unable to stop from crying.
"It's alright. You don't have to talk about it," he told her. She took in a sharp breath and continued.
"This man comes. And he tried to…he hurts me…and I can't stop him. When I woke up…I was so scared. I pulled the needle but… I pulled it down instead of out. Then it scratched my arm. I remember the dream. I tried to tell myself that it was okay but…I was so scared I just…couldn't move…he was so rough, I couldn't…" she drifted off here. Her sentences were short and made little sense put together but Arthur understood what she was trying to say. The truth that she was revealing.
"He…raped you?" the words tasted awful on his tongue. They burned and stung, and he wanted to spit them out, to be rid of them. She nodded slowly. He ran a hand over his face. He tried to find the right words. Nothing came to him to say.
"That's…awful. I'm so sorry." He finally said. There was so much more he wished that he could tell her, but he said nothing. She swallowed, and then he continued.
"I've…never heard of something like that happening in dreams. Projections can be…incredibly violent, but they don't…that's emotional torture. They aren't smart enough for that," he explained. Something like that should never happen in dreams. It wasn't in the nature of projections to feel anything like that. He thought about calling Cobb to see what advice he could give.
"No…it wasn't a projection. I mean, it was but…it wasn't because they knew what I did. It wasn't because I was messing with anything. It was a memory." She said. His body froze. He was paralyzed for a moment, his breath caught in his throat.
"A memory? You mean…" he trailed off. He couldn't speak. She nodded.
"It was when I was 16. We had been dating for a few weeks. I invited him over for a study date at my house. It was the first time that we'd be alone together. And he started to kiss me. But…he wouldn't stop," she told him. He nodded. The words she spoke felt like they had been contained for a long time, like she hadn't talked about it since it had happened.
"I never told anyone before. Not even my parents. It was over so quickly…and then he left. He just left, and I never saw him again," she said. He continued to listen to her. When she was done talking, he pulled her towards him. To his surprise, she didn't pull away. He immersed her in his arms and held her close, thinking of nothing else he could do.
"Are you okay?" he asked her. She nodded.
"I will be," she said.
"I can't imagine what you must have gone through. Not telling anyone. Not being able to talk to anyone about it…must have killed you," he said. He had never experienced anything like this before, this feeling of sorrow that he felt for Ariadne. All he wanted was for her to be alright, for her to know that he understood.
"Arthur…thank you." She spoke. He nodded. "You're right. Not being able to talk about it was the hardest thing. I felt so scared, so violated. Seeing it in the dream…made it all come back again. I knew that I couldn't keep it inside anymore. I'm sorry if I scared you," she said. She sighed and snuggled closer to his chest.
"You should never have to hold something like that inside," he spoke. She sniffed.
"Thank you for staying here. For not…leaving. Like he did," she whispered into his chest. He brought his hand up to stroke her hair.
"I would never leave you," he spoke. He didn't realize what he had said until after he said it, and the sincerity of his words scared him. But he knew it was true. It was silent for a few minutes before he spoke again.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but, how did you get through it? I can't imagine…" he said. She shifted.
"It's fine. I don't really know. I just…I kept telling myself that it was over, you know? It wasn't going to happen again. I went through three different stages. First, I just tried to forget it. Pretend like it was a dream. Then I couldn't forget it, so I tried to convince myself that I had wanted to. That it was something that I had asked for, and that I had enjoyed it, you know? But then…when that didn't work…I told myself that it was my fault. It was all my fault, and for some reason…that forced me to move on. But…I still feel that way sometimes. Like…I'm the reason. Like it's…my fault," she told him. Anger pulsed through his veins. The very thought of Ariadne blaming herself for something like that. It made him sick to think about it. He held her at arm's length so that he could see into her eyes.
"Ariadne…you are not at fault. Don't EVER think that way again. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you didn't do. He's the one that's at fault. No man on this earth has the right to do to you what he did to you," he spoke firmly, but gently also. It was a different Arthur than she had seen before. This Arthur was caring, and also urgent. All at once, Ariadne started to cry again. He pulled her to his chest once more, and stroked her head.
"I'm sorry. That was…angry. I'm sorry," he spoke softly again, trying to calm her. He rocked himself back and forth. He was worried that his words were too harsh, and may have destroyed any progress they had made.
"No…it's not that," she spoke through her tears. She sat up again and wiped the moisture out of her eyes and off her face.
"What you just said to me…I've spent years hoping to hear. I'm sorry I cried it's just…that's what I've always wanted someone to tell me. Thank you for saying what I would never let anyone else tell me," she talked slowly, choosing her words carefully.
"Ariadne…I can't explain it. I feel this…need to protect you. I have ever since Cobb first brought you here. Like…I need to keep you safe. I never want you to hurt," he explained to her.
She smiled weakly and took his hand. "I don't think anyone's felt that way about me before." She whispered, and looked into his eyes. She brought a hand to his cheek and brushed over it, gently and calmly. Moving carful, she inched her way to him. He slowly brought his head down to meet hers, and she brought her lips to his. At first, she just kissed his lower lip, taking it in both of hers. The she brought a hand to his face and did the same again, kissing the lower lip, sucking on it just a bit. Their noses brushed together gently. He brought a hand to her shoulder and pulled her a bit closer to him. This time, it was he who kissed her upper lip, finally able to move his mouth. Finally, he moved forward and allowed himself to kiss her the way he had wanted to for so long. He had his hand in the nape of her neck, and brought his lips fully upon hers. He moved his hand to her back and pressed her into him. He didn't go any further than that, considering what had happened before. They sat there together, kissing. No hands wandered and no rubbing happened. It wasn't a kiss of passion. It was a kiss of need, of want and of silent comfort.
Finally she broke away and hugged his torso. Her breathing was heavy and shaky. He held her tightly, keeping her close to him.
"Arthur," she breathed his name. "Thank you. Thank you so much," she said. He nodded, and she could feel it though she couldn't see it. He shifted her into his lap and she sat there, warm against his chest.
They spoke little for the rest of the night, but eventually that lay down on the floor together and slept. He kept a hand on her arm all night, and she was grateful for the security he gave her. When the rest of the crew came in the next morning, they would see Arthur and Ariadne, still in their clothes, lying on the floor together. But that was tomorrow morning, and tonight nothing else mattered.
A/N- I'm really proud of this one. For some reason, I just really like how it ended up. The kiss is heavily based on the kiss that Joseph and Zooey shared in "Manic," during the part where they're in her room. You can probably find it on YouTube if you're interested. Thank you all again for reading, please review because I love to know what you guys thought of it and I love your input! Thank you all again!